Customer Solution Case Study
AXA Belgium Increases Quality of Service with Customer Relationship Management
Overview
Country or Region:Belgium
Industry:Financial services—Insurance
Customer Profile
AXA Belgium comprises an insurance division and a banking business within AXA Bank Europe representing more than 3.1 million customers and 2.2 million families.
Business Situation
AXA Belgium needed cost-effective customer relationship management software to improve the collaboration between its business managers and independent brokers.
Solution
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Travi@ta deployed Microsoft Dynamics CRM in a toolset that the customer calls Management And Relationship Instrument Linked to Your Needs (MARILYN).
Benefits
- Quality of service increases
- Marketing support aids broker loyalty
- Knowledge transfer streamlines operations
- Solution nominated for award ceremony
Jean-Claude Swalus, Business Solution Manager, AXA Belgium
The insurance business of AXA Belgium—the largest non-life insurer in the country and second largest in life insurance—set an objective to improve the quality of service offered to its 5,000 independent brokers. These brokers sellthe company’s products in a highly competitive market to hundreds of thousands of clients. The company chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM for its new customer relationship management system to help business managers support brokers more effectively with targeted marketing campaigns. In addition to a broker portal, AXA introduced processes for marketing, sales, training, service, and document management. Supported by the CRM system, visits to AXA Belgium brokers have increased, and the solution is now under evaluation for adoption by AXA insurance subsidiaries in other countries.
Situation
AXA Belgium’s insurance business concerns private individuals and small, medium-sized and large enterprises. The insurance division—which specialises in property, casualty, and life insurance—is the largest non-life insurer in the country and the second biggest in life insurance. It operates through a workforce of 200 business managers and more than 5,000 professional, independent insurance brokers who also represent other brands. A second activity concerns the distribution of AXA Bank and insurance products through a network of 940 AXA Bank agencies.
In 2006, AXA Belgium scoped its first customer relationship management (CRM) project called Management And Relationships Instrument Linked to Your Needs (MARILYN). The aim of the project was to help AXA Belgium business managers improve their performance and collaboration with its vast network of independent brokers and dealers in Belgium.
Jean-Claude Swalus, Business Solution Manager, AXA Belgium, says: “We wanted to increase the service level to our brokers. Previously, customer information was stored in disparate Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and in-house developed applications. Management had no central view of structured relationships between the company and individual brokers or dealers, or of feedback from them on sales activities. We needed this information to make sure we were delivering the appropriate solutions.”
Requirements for MARILYN accelerated after 2006, with AXA Belgium needing a complete distribution relationship management solution. Additional processes have been added to the CRM system to
cover critical functions necessary to optimise processes and performance. These include activity management, marketing, sales, event and training management, service and document management, and a broker portal.
Solution
AXA Belgium worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Travi@ta, which launched its MARILYN solution in 2006 on an earlier version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Since then, MARILYN has been updated easily to the latest release.
Before deciding to work with Travi@ta and Microsoft, AXA Belgium considered solutions from other vendors. After a proof of concept lasting 30 days with Travi@ta, Microsoft Dynamics CRM was able to display all the broker-related data from the mainframe from within Microsoft Office Outlook.
The success of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM toolset at AXA Belgium—which also includes Microsoft collaboration and reporting technology—is such that the solution has won an internal prize for excellence at AXA Belgium in 2010. As a result, it has been demonstrated to some other AXA entities abroad, which are now considering whether to acquire the software for their businesses.
The flexibility of Microsoft Dynamics CRM has speeded up its adoption by AXA Belgium business managers and others in operations and product development—around 600 employees now use CRM every day. Ease of integration with AXA Belgium’s line-of-business applications—principally the broker repository called Azimut—was another consideration in choosing Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
The integration capability ensures that business managers receive weekly
automated reports on sales activity, which also assist in monitoring performance across the company.
Benefits
The success of the AXA Belgium MARILYN CRM tool is best judged by the increase of visits by business managers to the network of brokers and dealers throughout Belgium. The solution extends far beyond its original purpose of performance management. It is helping to develop marketing and distribution planning and improving communication between brokers and AXA head office.
Quality of Service Increases with CRM Solution
AXA Belgium has improved the efficiency and quality of its relationships with independent brokers. The company has the advantage of a powerful and up-to-date CRM system in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, helping it to plan sales activities and coordinate marketing and distribution work.
Jean-Claude Swalus says: “We now have much better insight into the business and sales activities in the field on a daily basis. Information that resided in several databases is consolidated into one system, giving our business managers more time for customer-facing interactions. Productivity has improved with Microsoft Dynamics CRM.”
Marketing and Training Initiatives Aid Broker Recruitment and Retention
Brokers representing AXA Belgium are not tied to the brand and often represent other insurance companies, which makes relationship management even more complex. Previously, AXA Belgium didn’t
have a 360-degree view of brokers’ work or feedback on customer satisfaction related
to the company’s products compared to other brands.Through the CRM system, it can support independent brokers more effectively with targeted marketing campaigns, and offer them more opportunities for training and personal development.
Now there is also regular reporting into head office, and, as a result, the quality and frequency of communication between business managers and brokers has improved. Jean-Claude Swalus says: “Through CRM we’ve gained much better insight into the work of our independent brokers and bankers.“
Knowledge Transfer Ensures AXA Belgium Manages CRM Efficiently
AXA Belgium has forged a strong business partnership with Travi@ta in managing the ongoing development of the MARILYN product.
While Travi@ta still maintains an on-site presence, the number of technicians has been reduced by half as AXA Belgium handles more of the operational management itself. There are now seven other insurance companies in Belgium using the Travi@ta CRM solution for insurance.
AXA Belgium Endorses Partner for 2010 Microsoft Awards
Due to the success of MARILYN, Travi@ta was selected as a finalist for the 2010 Microsoft Partner Awards in the Microsoft Dynamics Financial Services Partner of the Year Award category. Jean-Claude Swalus says: “Travi@ta made the acronym for our CRM project MARILYN—Management And Relationships Instrument Linked to Your Needs—become reality.”
Max Fatouretchi, Dynamics Industry Manager, Financial Services Industry, says: “It’s incredible to see the level of expertise that our partners continue to exhibit as they create and deliver innovative solutions and services to help expand the businesses, meet customer needs, and cut costs.”
Wim Geukens, Managing Partner, Travi@ta, adds: “Microsoft Dynamics CRM integrates easily with Microsoft Office Outlook. This function avoids users having to switch in and out of applications while managing their daily work.”
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systemsthat your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes, and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.
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